Dr. Valdis Juris Zeps (May 29, 1932 in Daugavpils, Latvia â July 25, 1996 in Riga, Latvia) was a Latvian-American linguist and college professor.
His parents, JÃÂzeps and Anna Zeps, were World War II refugees. In 1944, he fled the Soviet occupation of Latvia with his parents and brother, Aivars Zeps. They arrived first in the displaced persons camp of Lubeck, Germany, then, after receiving sponsorship, arrived in the United States in 1949.
Valdis married Betty Reel Shuford, a costume designer, in 1957. Their children are Dace, Valdis, Barbara, and William; grandchildren, Sandra, Andrew, Guntis, Monika, and Leo; great-grandchild, William.
Valdis studied at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and received his doctorate in linguistics] and sociology from Indiana University Bloomington in 1961. He became a professor of linguistics at the University of WisconsinâÂÂMadison in 1963. He was widely published, in over 130 publications and journals, on such topics as Latvian folksong metrics, the Latvian language, and Latgalian exile literature. He wrote öÃÂves dÃÂls Kurbads (partial text at http://www.zagarins.net/JG/jg19/JG19_Turbads.htm) under the pseudonym JÃÂnis Turbads. In 1984, he published The placenames of Latgola: A dictionary of East Latvian toponyms.
In the 1990s, Valdis also served with distinction as a member of the HocÃÂ k Wazijaci Language & Culture Program board in Mauston, Wisconsin, working with members of the Ho-Chunk Nation to navigate the many options for a new HocÃÂ k language spelling system. In 1994 he compiled a large lexicon of the HocÃÂ k language, which came to be fondly known as the "Zepsicon."
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